Long Strange Trip: Amir Bar-Lev Docu about the Grateful Dead

Amazon Studios will rerelease Long Strange Trip, Amir Bar-Lev’s critically acclaimed documentary about the Grateful Dead, in theaters on October 13 in Los Angeles and November 3 in New York.

The film has been nominated for two Critics Choice Documentary Awards, Best Director and Best Music Documentary. It has been screened at over 20 film festivals around the globe beginning with its premiere at the 2017 Sundance Film Fest and continues to be seen by fans worldwide through Amazon Prime.

Directed by Amir Bar-Lev (The Tillman Story) and executive produced by Martin Scorsese, Long Strange Trip is the first full-length documentary to explore the independent vision, innovation, and commitment to their audience that made the Bay Area band one of the most influential musical groups of their generation.

Artfully assembling candid interviews with the band, road crew, family members and notable Deadheads, Bar-Lev reveals the untold history of The Dead and the freewheeling psychedelic subculture that sprouted up around it.

The film also provides poignant insight into the psyche of late lead guitarist Jerry Garcia, whose disdain for authority clashed with his de facto leadership of the sprawling collective that kept the show on the road.

With a soundtrack that captures some of the band’s most dynamic live performances, as well as unguarded offstage moments and never-before-seen interviews, footage and photos, Long Strange Trip explores The Dead’s singular experiment in radically eclectic music making. Much more than the “behind the music” backstory of an exceptionally talented and beloved group of musicians, the film is at once an inspiring tale of unfettered artistic expression, a heartfelt American tragedy and an incisive history of the rise and fall of 20th-century counterculture.

The official soundtrack to Long Strange Trip, featuring rare and unreleased Grateful Dead recordings, was released by Rhino in conjunction with the documentary premiere and is available on Amazon Music. Long Strange Trip is produced by Eric Eisner (Hamlet 2), Nick Koskoff (Bad Hurt), Justin Kreutzmann (The First Waltz), Ken Dornstein (My Brother’s Bomber) and Alex Blavatnik (For the Love of Spock).